Nurses group says Pinay 'Satanist' not a member

ABS-CBN News

MANILA – The Filipina nurse, dubbed by newspapers in Switzerland as a 'Satanist', is not a member of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).

"The Philippine Nurses Association of the United Kingdom (PNA UK), as the official professional organization of Filipino Nurses in the UK, would like to make it clear that based on our official record of members, Blaze Binder is not a nurse member of the association," said Michael Duque, president of the PNA UK.

Duque added that its international chapter in Switzerland also showed that Binder is not an active member of PNA there.

The 37-year old Pinay drew flak after reportedly posting photos of her with elderly Swiss patients on Facebook. Binder, who goes by the name Ghostinthedark Satania Blaze on Facebook, also asked her 2,000 online friends to guess if the elderly patients were dead or alive.

A court in Saint Gallen in Switzerland found Binder guilty of "violating the peace of the dead" and breach of trust.

A Swiss court fined her and also issued a suspended fine equivalent to 120 days of pay.

"As nurses, our profession dictates that we act in the best interest of the patient at all times being their advocate and protector. It is clear that Binder has not internalized these basic tenets of the profession but has instead philosophically distorted the very foundation to which every nurse has been made to realize when she was given the confidence to look after an elderly patient in a retirement care home in Ebersol, Switzerland," Duque said in a statement.

Duque defended Filipino nurses and the high quality of care they provide in the acute, community or rehabilitation stages of patient care.

"The Filipino Nurses' first-rate quality of care is evidenced by the high number of Filipino nurses employed by various government and non-government healthcare service providers worldwide," he said.

He continued by saying that "Filipino nurses have been trained to the highest standards of nursing service and that members of the association are always reminded of and encouraged to practice the timeless values of excellence, honor and integrity in service".